Paris Votes To Ban Rental e-Scooters

Round 100,000 journeys are accomplished every day in France on rented e-scooters.

Paris voted overwhelmingly Sunday to banish for-hire electrical scooters from the streets of the French capital, delivering a blow to operators and a victory for street security campaigners.

The referendum means the Metropolis of Mild, as soon as a pioneer in embracing e-scooter companies, is about to change into the one main European capital to outlaw the widespread gadgets booked on apps akin to Lime.

The town’s residents had been requested to weigh in for or in opposition to them in a public session organised by mayor Anne Hidalgo, with practically 90 p.c of the votes forged in opposition to, official outcomes confirmed.

“We’re completely satisfied. It is what we have been preventing for over 4 years,” mentioned Arnaud Kielbasa, co-founder of the Apacauvi charity, which represents victims of e-scooter accidents.

“All Parisians say they’re nervous on the pavements, nervous once they cross the roads. It’s good to look all over the place,” Kielbasa, whose spouse and toddler daughter had been hit by an e-scooter driver, instructed AFP. “That is why they’ve voted in opposition to them.”

‘Not sustainable’

Operators say they’re being unfairly singled out as responsable for the customarily chaotic nature of Paris streets, the place mayor Hidalgo has championed bikes and different types of non-emitting transport since coming to energy in 2014.

Her administration welcomed e-scooter operators with open arms in 2018, however it has progressively tightened rules since, creating designated parking zones, limiting the highest pace and limiting the variety of operators.

However such measures have didn’t persuade residents, who usually complain about reckless and drunken driving, in addition to muddle on pavements. 

A spate of deadly accidents has additionally highlighted the risks of autos that may at the moment be employed by youngsters as younger as 12.

“I am dedicated to respecting the selection of voters, purely and easily,” Hidalgo instructed reporters as she voted on Sunday.

The 63-year-old is now anticipated to not renew working contracts for the town’s three operators — California-based Lime, Amsterdam-based Dott and Berlin-based Tier — from August 31. 

She mentioned on Sunday that their enterprise mannequin was “very costly — 5 euros for 10 minutes — it isn’t very sustainable, and above all, it is the reason for lots of accidents.”

The session is not going to have an effect on privately owned electrical scooters, of which 700,000 had been bought nationwide final yr, in line with transport ministry figures.

Round 100,000 journeys are accomplished every day in France on rented e-scooters in round 200 cities and cities.

‘Towards the present’?

The ban represents a big monetary and reputational blow for the multinational operators and will encourage different cities to comply with swimsuit.

Montreal outlawed all electrical scooters for rental or personal use in 2020, whereas Copenhagen banned rental variations in 2020 earlier than bringing them again a yr later with stricter situations. 

E-scooter firms have backed tighter rules in France, unveiled by the federal government final week, which might improve the minimal age to 14 and improve fines for offences akin to driving with a passenger. 

“In fact, there are driving offences and harmful behaviour. That is human nature, not the car,” Nicolas Gorse, managing director of Dott, instructed LCI tv on Sunday. “What we want is to coach, detect and punish.”   

Hadi Karam, common supervisor for France at Lime, instructed AFP final week that Paris was going “in opposition to the present” in looking for to ban rental e-scooters, citing current selections to broaden them in Washington, New York, Madrid or London. 

“There is a development in the direction of these autos and this development began in Paris which was a pioneer,” he mentioned.

Operators supplied free rides to prospects who voted on Sunday and employed on-line influencers to attempt to drum up assist amongst their principally younger customers — largely in useless judged by the excessive proportion of older voters seen in queues.

“They’re harmful, each for many who use them and for pedestrians,” Francoise Granier, a 68-year-old physician who voted within the ninth district of the capital, instructed AFP. “And the police by no means intervene.”

Like her, IT employee Michael Dahan, 50, deplored the state of the capital’s streets, saying: “If it was higher regulated, I would not be in opposition to… however you see individuals behaving in a loopy method.”

(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)